Overdue Acceptance
by youaremyglee
Summary: Quinn Fabray is the perfect daughter, student, and girlfriend. That is until she finds herself in an environment that takes her far outside her comfort zone. The values she's grown up with, and even the person she thinks she is, are put into question when she meets a persistent brunette named Rachel Berry.
1. Welcome to Yale

**AN: Welcome to my first ever Faberry fic!**

 **If you've read my Brittana fics... thank you so much! If you haven't... you don't have to but of course I would appreciate it.**

 **About this fic: This is completely AU. It's Faberry focused but Brittana will make appearances. This takes place in a world where Yale is even more LGBTQ friendly than it is (from what I hear). You'll figure it out as we go though!**

 **Enjoy!**

* * *

The harsh buzz of the alarm clock was not the way Quinn Fabray wanted to wake up this morning...

She rolled over in bed and felt around her bedside table, groaning when she didn't feel the familiar shape of her phone. She opened her eyes to find she had fallen asleep with her phone beside her pillow. Quickly, she turned the alarm off and allowed herself to fall face first back into the cushions warmth.

"It's time to wake up, Quinn." Judy Fabray came bursting into the room, oblivious to the fact that her daughter could still have been sleeping soundly.

"I'm awake, mother." A muffled reply came from the bed.

Judy crossed her arms and stared at her daughter's unmoving body. "It's a big day, Quinnie. Come on, get up." She walked over and threw the blanket off of the blonde.

Before walking out of the room, she turned back to face Quinn who was now sitting up. "Make sure to wear something nice." She flashed a tight lipped smile before turning and leaving.

Quinn sighed and looked around her room. She had packed a lot of her stuff, yet her room still looked like it had barely been touched. She jumped out of bed, threw on a dress and got ready to face what awaited her downstairs.

She walked into the kitchen to see Judy sitting down with her morning coffee. Quinn smiled to herself; her mother was probably on cup three by now.

"You're just in time." Judy smiled at her daughter. "Wyatt just got here; he's out front with your father."

Quinn nodded as she grabbed a banana from the fruit basket. Silently, she started peeling it as Judy watched. For most people silence with family wasn't awkward - this was not the case for the Fabray's.

"I expect you'll call me when you arrive?" Judy asked.

Quinn nodded again; this was as close as Judy Fabray ever got to showing that she cared.

"As soon as we pull in," Quinn replied.

Judy stood up and faced Quinn. "Great." She awkwardly rubbed her fingers together, contemplating whether or not to hug her daughter. Before she could come to a decision the door opened and Wyatt Livingston entered the kitchen.

"Good morning, Quinn." He walked over and wrapped his arms around Quinn, pulling her in for a quick kiss. He smiled and winked at her before asking, "Ready to go?"

Quinn looked at the empty banana peel in her hand then glanced at her mother who was now walking to the other side of the kitchen; clearly the moment was over. She threw the peel into the trash and turned to her boyfriend. "Whenever you are."

Wyatt took her hand and guided her to walk ahead of him. They walked outside to see Russell Fabray closing the trunk of Wyatt's car.

The older man looked over at them and gave a short wave. "Everything's set."

Wyatt opened the passenger door for Quinn and waited as her father gave her a quick, stiff hug.

As they drove away Quinn looked in the rear-view mirror and watched as her father didn't even wait until they turned the corner before he walked back to the house.

* * *

"Yeah, I'm here... Okay talk to you later. Bye, mother." Quinn hung up the phone and looked at the bags in the trunk. She was used to a walk-in closet full of clothes; now she would have to live off of two bags.

"Did you forget something?" Wyatt asked as Quinn stared into the trunk of his car at her luggage.

She looked up at him and smiled gently. "No, I've got everything I need."

He smiled while pulling her biggest suitcase out of the trunk. "Well remember, I'm not staying."

Her smile faded. "Right."

Wyatt leaned in and kissed her on the forehead. "It's ok, babe, I'll visit."

Quinn nodded and smiled weakly as she picked up her smaller bag from the trunk.

It took them a few tries but finally they found the room Quinn was to be staying in. She looked at the small whiteboard hanging on the door which currently read 'DND'.

"Do I knock?" She looked over at Wyatt who shrugged in response.

Quinn hesitantly knocked and waited as she heard footsteps coming towards them. When the door opened a fairly short, but beautiful girl stood in front of them. She had tanned skin, dark hair and angry brown eyes.

"What?" The girl asked.

"I think this is my room," Quinn replied.

The brunette eyed her. "Quinn?" She asked and the blonde nodded in response. "I'm Santana."

Quinn waited a few seconds, clearly waiting to be let into the room, _her_ room, but Santana didn't move. "Can I come in?"

Santana crossed her arms. "Did you read the door?"

Quinn glanced at the door quickly. "I think we're passed that point."

The brunette narrowed her eyes and studied the new blonde in front of her. "Fine."

Before entering the room, Quinn turned to Wyatt and gave him a quick kiss goodbye.

"I'll visit soon," Wyatt told her as she carried her bags into her new home.

Before she could even set her bags down she felt a tap on her shoulder, quickly followed by a voice saying, "I'm Brittany."

Quinn turned to face the direction of the voice and came face to face with a tall, half-naked, blonde. "Oh."

Brittany held her hand out. "It's nice to meet you," she greeted with a smile.

"Yeah..." Quinn shook the other girl's hand hesitantly. She looked around the room and only now noticed that Santana was wearing a long sweater, and probably nothing underneath it. "What's going on?"

"We're saying goodbye," Santana replied with a confident smirk.

Brittany matched her smirk and walked over to the brunette, putting her hands on her girlfriend's hips. "To every part of each other..." Slowly she started trailing her hand up the sweater.

"Right." Quinn quickly averted her eyes from the clear display of _affection_ going on in front of her.

Santana stopped Brittany's hand from straying just in time. "Brittany was just leaving to go to NYU."

Brittany pouted. "If I have to."

The brunette smiled at her girlfriend. "You're visiting again in a few weeks, babe."

As Santana and Brittany said their goodbyes Quinn started to unpack her bags, feeling more awkward by the second. It wasn't until the couple kissed goodbye that Quinn's eyes wondered back to them. She knew she shouldn't stare but she couldn't force herself to look away.

Santana closed the door and sharply turned towards Quinn. "Do you have a problem?"

Quinn's eyes went wide. "With what?"

"Don't play dumb," Santana scoffed, "you made it into this school so there's no way you're that dense."

Quinn shook her head. "I have no problem with your sexuality, Santana and it's none of my business anyway."

"Good." Santana sneered at Quinn and shoved something into the blonde's hand.

Quinn looked at the object in her hand. It was a key, presumably to their room, but that wasn't all; attached to the key was a small rainbow flag keychain.

"Welcome to Yale." Santana smiled.


	2. Do You Get it Yet?

**AN: More Faberry is sure to come... I'm excited about the next chapter! Thank you for the reviews/favourites/follows/overall support.**

 **Much love and enjoy chapter 2!**

* * *

Quinn stretched as she opened her eyes and smiled to herself. She had slept surprisingly well for being in a new place, not to mention her room was so... Quiet?

She quickly turned to see the sun nice and high in the sky. "Shit!"

The blonde rushed around the room grabbing clothes and getting ready, unaware of how loud she was being.

"What the fuck, Fabray?" Santana mumbled from the other side of the room.

"I'm late, my alarm didn't go off." Quinn explained in between changing.

"Yes, it did," Santana yawned, "I turned it off."

Quinn stopped suddenly and turned to give her new roommate a questioning look. "Why?" She asked harshly.

"Because it was loud." Santana answered as if it were the most obvious thing on the planet.

She stared at the brunette for a couple seconds before deciding that this could be handled later; she was really late.

Quinn finished getting ready and ran out the door. She was already late for her first class and she didn't even know where the room was - needless to say her first day was not starting out well.

It seemed to take forever but eventually she found the lecture hall her class was being held in. Without thinking, she swung the door open with too much force. Before she could catch the handle the door flew into the wall with a crash that echoed through the room.

The whole class, including the professor, stopped to watch the loud, late blonde girl.

"Sorry." Quinn whispered although there was no point in whispering now.

"And who do we have here?" The professor asked as he studied his new student.

"Quinn Fabray." She sat down in a seat near the back, trying to avoid making anymore noise.

The professor nodded. "Does anybody here have a guess as to why Miss Fabray is late?"

He looked around the classroom. At first nobody said anything or even moved a muscle, but eventually it became clear there was no escaping this topic.

"Maybe her alarm didn't go off for some reason." One girl suggested.

The professor nodded and waited for another answer.

"Or she got lost looking for the room." Another student offered.

"Both valid theories, but here's one for you." He crossed his arms and walked to the other side of the small stage he was teaching from.

He was a tall, lean man with a scruffy beard and long legs so it didn't take him long to walk the whole width of the room. Quinn thought he looked to be somewhere in his mid-50's but she had to admit he looked really good for his age.

"Maybe Miss Fabray was a very well-liked and popular girl in high school. Perhaps she comes from a loving family who thinks she can do no wrong. It's possible she was the center of attention at home and socially." He paused to look at Quinn with a glare that forced her to slip further down into her seat. "Maybe Miss Fabray is so used to the _world_ revolving around her, that she has developed an utter disregard for the way her actions affect the _people_ around her."

Quinn stared down at her unopened notebook, silently wishing she could disappear into it. The teacher finished a short introduction to psych 101 and continued on with the class like he hadn't just ripped apart a student's confidence and social reputation.

The blonde could barely pull her attention away from the clock for the remainder of the class. It was dragging on forever and all she wanted to do was leave.

 _Tick. Tick. Tick. Tick._

"Hey."

Quinn finally tore her eyes away from the clock to face the girl standing beside her. "Hi." She looked around and noticed everyone packing up their stuff; class was over.

"For what it's worth, I doubt you're as bad as Professor Prescott makes you seem."

Quinn shrugged; most of what he said was actually true. She was about to disagree when the girl smiled at her and she couldn't help but smile back. The girl was brunette with captivating brown eyes; she was short and dressed rather simply, but nonetheless beautiful. Quinn stood up and offered her hand. "Quinn Fabray."

"Yeah, I know," the girl laughed, "but it's nice to officially meet you Quinn Fabray." She shook the blonde's hand. "I'm Rachel Berry."

"Nice to meet you too."

The girl shuffled her books and held them up slightly. "I have class now but I'll see you around, Quinn."

Quinn nodded and watched as Rachel left the lecture hall. "I hope so."

* * *

Santana slowly opened the door to their room, unsure off what to expect from her new roommate after she angered her that morning. However when she entered the room she found Quinn listening to music on her bed and smiling into her notebook.

The brunette closed the door loudly to get the blonde's attention. Quinn looked up but didn't take her earphones out.

Santana sat down on her bed and faced Quinn. "That's rude you know." She said loud enough that Quinn could hear her.

Quinn finally took one ear bud out. "So is slamming the door." She answered with a smirk.

The brunette smiled; she liked sass. "Hey, so, I probably shouldn't have turned off your alarm this morning or whatever."

Quinn narrowed her eyes at her roommate. "Was that an apology?"

Santana shrugged. "Take it however you want," she said as she swung her legs onto the bed and pulled a magazine out from under the mattress in one motion.

Quinn rolled her eyes. "I'll take it as an apology then."

The brunette stopped flipping through the magazine and looked over at the blonde. "Who is he?"

Quinn's eyebrows shot up. "Who?"

"There has to be some reason you're so forgiving and happy and the best reason is always a crush."

"Oh please, there's no crush." Quinn scoffed.

"Sure, whatever you say." Santana went back to flipping through her magazine and the room was quite for a few seconds.

"I made a friend though."

Santana smiled and threw the magazine aside. "Who?"

"Her name's-"

"Ohh," Santana nodded, "it's like that."

"Like what?"

"Nothing, I just didn't know you played for my team."

Quinn's brow furrowed. "I don't. I have a boyfriend."

Santana laughed. "Like that's ever stopped anyone." Quinn threw her notebook down onto her bed and grabbed her bag. "What are you doing?"

"We can be roommates but we don't have to be friends." Quinn replied sharply.

"Woah, no need to be so sensitive. Ok look," Santana raised her hands in surrender, "I'll be civil."

The blonde studied her roommate intensely before sitting back down. "Fine."

"What's your new friend's name?" Santana asked as she opened her magazine back up.

"Rachel Berry."

Santana's eyes went wide before she started laughing. "Oh, this just keeps getting better!"

"Why?" Quinn was getting really annoyed with Santana.

"Your new friend is perfect little miss Rachel Berry; head of the LGBTQ resources and hard-core lesbian with two adorably gay dads." Santana smirked at Quinn's surprised expression. "That's not a problem is it?"

"Of course not." Quinn answered quickly.

Santana laughed again; she was enjoying this way too much. "Welcome to Yale."

"You've already said that." Quinn groaned.

"I know, but I feel like my subtext didn't quite get through to you last time." She glanced over at her roommate. "Do you get it yet?"

Quinn looked at Santana and then down at the open notebook on her bed. ' _Unit One: The psychology behind sexual orientation and attraction'._ "I think I'm starting to..."


	3. The Sprinkler Test

**AN: Life is crazy and updates are slow... my apologies! I want to continue writing though.**

 **I hope you enjoy!**

* * *

Quinn was into her third week of classes and things were going less than satisfactory. She thought everything was fine, until she received her first graded assignment back; Ms. Paplam's writing assignment number one. She looked down at the big red letter F on the top of her paper with the words ' _See me'_ written beside it.

The minutes counted down until class ended and she was finally able to have a few words with her English professor. Quinn quickly packed her bag and walked to the front of the lecture hall. "Ms. Paplam?"

The older teacher looked up and smiled at the student. "Ah, Quinn. I've been expecting you." She joked.

Quinn let out a small, fake laugh in order to comply with the teacher's attempt at humour using a line that had been run into the ground years ago. "Then you know why I'm here." She set the failed paper down on the desk between them. "How did I fail this assignment? I thought the purpose of it was just to get an idea of our writing level."

"That's true," the teacher nodded as she eyed the paper, "but it's still a graded assignment, and in order to pass you have to answer the question the paper is supposed to address."

"I did that," the blonde argued.

"Your paper was filled with a lot of facts, but none of them answered the question." The teacher looked at Quinn's angry but confused face and sighed, "I'll give you tonight to rewrite it and hand it in."

Quinn watched the woman leave the lecture hall before grabbing her paper and rushing to the library; she needed to start on this paper now if she was going to finish it in time.

* * *

The library was quiet considering how busy it was. Quinn went up floor by floor looking for an empty desk to work at until she made it to the 5th floor. Half of the room was lined with bookshelves and the other half had sitting areas decorated with comfortable looking chairs. The room was outlined with one person desks for independent work.

Quinn walked around the outside of the room until she found an empty desk behind the bookshelves. She sat down, pulled out her laptop, opened a new document, and stared at the blank page. After what felt like hours she finally pried her eyes away from the still blank screen in front of her and started taking in her surroundings.

Down a row of bookshelves there was a tall brunette scanning the books. She had eyes that looked golden in the sunlight and long wavy hair that flowed perfectly down her back. Quinn followed the shape of her body with her eyes until she reached the woman's long legs.

"Hello."

Quinn jumped at the voice and turned quickly to see none other than Rachel Berry smiling at her. "Rachel!" The blonde almost yelled before realizing she was in a library. "What are you doing here?"

Rachel moved slightly and pointed to the sitting area where a group of people were gathered. "The Respect Campaign group is meeting," she explained with a smile. "It's an LGBTQ friendly group that works towards promoting an accepting community here, and I'm the president."

"Of course," Quinn said under her breath.

"So what are you working on?" The brunette asked. Apparently she hadn't heard Quinn's remark because she was, of course, still smiling.

Quinn glanced down at the empty white space on her laptop screen. "Just some stupid assignment," she told Rachel as she shut her laptop.

Rachel nodded and looked down the row of bookshelves that the blonde had been staring down just minutes ago. "You know, the Respect Campaign is open to anyone. You should join us sometime." She offered with the bright smile that never seemed to leave her face.

Quinn's eyebrows knitted and she quickly looked up at the brunette. "I'm not gay!" She defended rather loudly.

Suddenly Rachel's practically impenetrable smile faltered. "Right, ok." She studied Quinn who was now fiddling with the chord to her laptop. "What assignment is it?"

The blonde took a deep breath and answered, "it's for Ms. Paplam's writing class. The first assignment of the year and I have to redo it because I failed." She sat back and laughed at herself. "I'm off to a good start for the year."

Rachel frowned slightly. "What do you have to write about?"

"It's really just to get a feel for our level and style of writing, but I failed because apparently I didn't answer the question."

"Which was?"

"'Who are you?'" Quinn answered with an eye roll.

"That's what the paper is about?" Rachel asked and Quinn nodded. "Hm..."

"What?"

Rachel held out her hand. "Come with me."

Quinn looked down at her hand and raised an eyebrow towards the brunette. "Where?"

"It's a surprise." Rachel smiled.

The blonde shook her head. "I really have to get this paper done for tomorrow."

"How can you write a paper when you haven't researched the topic?" Rachel asked and Quinn gave her a curious look. "Just come with me for an hour at the most. After that, you can get back to writing your paper."

Quinn thought for a second. She had lived her life by the book; follow the rules, get your work done right away, be proper and nice all the time... Maybe it was time to take a chance even if it was in some small brunette girl she barely knew.

She quickly packed up her bag as Rachel practically squealed with excitement. "One hour maximum."

* * *

It took about fifteen minutes of walking through campus before Rachel pointed to a building beside them. The brick wall was lined with cement squares.

"Stand there." Rachel pointed to the square on the ground in front of them.

Quinn hesitantly stepped into the square and turned to face the brunette.

"Oh, give me your bag and your phone, you won't need them for this."

The blonde put her phone in her bag and handed it to Rachel. "What are we doing, Rach?"

Rachel smiled and pulled out her own cellphone. "You have 5 seconds to tell me something about yourself. Ready?" Before Quinn could answer, Rachel tapped something on her phone. "Go!"

"What, why do I have to tell you something about myself?" Rachel backed up slightly, apparently just in time, because suddenly Quinn found herself being soaked from her right side.

It only took seconds for the sprinkler to stop. "What the hell, Rachel?!" She looked down at her drenched clothes in awe; she shouldn't have trusted this girl. Within seconds she heard the sound of another sprinkler. She turned around quickly to see the block behind her getting covered in water. More time passed and the next block got soaked, then the next, and the next.

"I warned you." Rachel told her.

Quinn turned around and gave the brunette a curious look as she stepped out of the wet square. She knew she should be angry, but all she could feel was confusion. "What just happened?"

"This is a sort of... Initiation that we do for new members of the Respect Campaign." Rachel noticed the apprehension on Quinn's face. "Don't worry, I know you're not a member. I just figured you could use this."

Rachel offered a sincere look that made Quinn realize she actually did trust this girl. "Ok, explain this to me again." The blonde stepped backwards into the square and smiled at the brunette.

The peppy brunette almost jumped with excitement at Quinn's agreement to continue. "So, these sprinklers are set up on a timer that I control with my phone. You have 5 seconds at each sprinkler to tell me something about yourself. The idea is to get through all 5 without getting wet. Ready?"

Quinn bit her lip in contemplation. She wasn't sure if she was ready, but she was wet now anyway. "I hope so." She nodded and watched as Rachel tapped her phone.

"Go!"

Quinn thought for a second. "I have blonde hair." She smiled at stepped backwards to the next square. "But it's not naturally this blonde." She stepped back again and watched as the first square got soaked.

"Booooring!" Rachel joked. "Give me more."

"I've only ever had one boyfriend in my life." Quinn jumped backwards to the next square and smiled.

"Is he the one?" Rachel asked.

Suddenly Quinn's smiled faded; was Wyatt the one she was ready to spend the rest of her life with? Her one and only true love? The splash of water lightly hitting her ankles startled her out of her thoughts; the sprinkler in front of her had gone off and she only had 5 seconds to answer.

"I…" she stuttered, "I don't think so." She jumped backwards just in time to avoid being drenched.

Rachel smiled sweetly. "One more, 5 seconds."

Quinn's mind started to race. She needed one more thing about herself and now all she could think about was Wyatt.

"2!" Rachel warned.

"I'm afraid of-" her sentence was cut off by the spray of cold water against her side.

Rachel tried to hold in a laugh, at the fear of being yelled at again. When Quinn didn't move or even open her eyes, Rachel carefully took a step closer. "Quinn?"

"The dark," Quinn opened her eyes and started smiling the widest Rachel had seen yet, "I'm afraid of the dark."

* * *

Rachel walked Quinn back to her dorm room after stopping to get a blanket from her own room to keep the blonde warm during the walk.

They stopped outside her room and Rachel chuckled when she saw the names on the whiteboard. "You're roommates with Santana Lopez?"

Quinn rolled her eyes and nodded. "Sadly..."

Rachel smiled. "She's a bit rude sometimes but she means well." She looked down at her hands. "She would do anything for someone she cares about."

Quinn scoffed, "so her girlfriend? Yeah, I met her too."

The brunette shook her head. "Just remember that everyone has a story. Don't write her off yet."

The blonde smiled at the girl in front of her. "Thank you for... Whatever it is we did."

"I had fun getting you wet." Rachel replied but then went wide eyed when she realized what she had said.

"Wanky!" They heard from inside Quinn's room.

"Santana, shut up!" Quinn hissed. "I should work on my assignment now," she told Rachel while managing to smile again despite the awkward situation.

"Right," Rachel agreed, "good luck."

Quinn unravelled herself from Rachel's blanket and offered it to her but Rachel shook her head. "Keep it for now."

The brunette started walking down the hall after a quick goodnight and a wave goodbye. Before Rachel had even turned the corner, Quinn heard the door open behind her and she was quickly pulled into her room, forcing her to be face to face with her smirking roommate.

"I have an assignment I have to do, Santana."

"Oh hell no," Santana sat down on Quinn's bed and went back to smirking, "not before you tell me why you came home, soaking wet, and with Man-Hands."

Quinn folded the blanket over the back of her computer chair. "How about _you_ tell _me_ why she seems so fond of you first."

Santana seemed taken aback. "We've just known each other for a while, there's nothing to tell."

"Right," Quinn responded as she started taking off her wet clothing.

Santana got up and handed Quinn some dry clothes she found on the blonde's dresser so she could change quickly. "Tell me what happened tonight."

Quinn looked at the clothes that her roommate was now offering her, this was very weird behaviour for the, usually, selfish brunette. "There's nothing to tell," she answered with less confidence than she had hoped for.

Santana scoffed and laid down on her own bed. "Enjoy your mysterious nights out with the midget for now because I will find out. I always do," she told her as she put her earphones in and started to drown out her surroundings.

When Quinn had finished changing she sat down in bed, opened her laptop, and found that same blank white page that was supposed to contain the words of her assignment. She sighed and started to close her laptop, but as she lowered the screen the blanket that Rachel had lent her came into her view. She went through the night's events in her head over and over, and every time her smile grew bigger and bigger.

She opened her laptop again and started writing.

 _'I could tell you who I am, but I don't know the answer. All I know is that it's time I start figuring it out.'_


End file.
